Black Diamond Equipment: Peter Metcalf

There's no question it was risky. I had my life savings in it. I had personally guaranteed the loan, even though I only owned ten percent of the business. And it was my job and career, so had it gone down, I would have lost everything. And one of the largest outside investors said to me when he heard that He looked at me and said

I'm sorry to hear that, but that's very reassuring. That means to me that you're going to do everything in your power not to let this company go down. And I looked him straight in the eye and said Yes, I am. Welcome to How I Built This, a show about innovators, entrepreneurs, idealists, and the stories behind the movements. I'm Guy Raz and on the show today, how Peter Metcalf took a bankrupt business and built it into Black Diamond.

one of the world's best known brands for climbing, hiking, and skiing. Way back in the first year of the show, we ran an interview with Yvonne Chenard, the founder of Patagonia. It's a classic episode, well worth your time, and we'll put a link to it in the show notes. Anyway, before Patagonia became Patagonia, Yvonne ran a tiny little business called Chinard Equipment that basically sold metal tools for mountain climbers. As you can probably imagine, the market for mountain climbers alone was pretty small and niche, and by nineteen eighty nine, Chenard equipment

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